Asia-Pacific Construction Pipeline, Excluding China, Hits Record High

PORTSMOUTH, NH—Analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE), based here, have determined that Asia-Pacific’s total construction pipeline, excluding China, hit a new all-time high at the close of 2019 with 1,926 projects/409,447 rooms. Project counts are up 7%, while room counts are up 8%, year over year (YOY). COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) did not have an impact on fourth quarter 2019 totals reported by LE.

Projects currently under construction stand at a record 991 projects with 224,354 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months and those in the early planning stage are also at all-time highs with 436 projects/85,417 rooms and 499 projects/99,676 rooms, respectively.

New projects announced into the pipeline have accelerated noticeably with 319 projects/55,165 rooms in the fourth quarter of 2019. This is the highest number of new projects announced since the second quarter of 2014 when 568 projects/98,738 rooms were revealed.

The Asia-Pacific region had 374 new hotels/69,527 rooms open in 2019. The LE forecast anticipates that 439 projects/84,188 rooms are expected to open in 2020. Should all these projects come online, this will be the highest count of new hotel openings that LE has ever recorded. Then in 2021, new hotel openings are forecast to slow to 371 projects/76,710 rooms.

Countries with the largest pipelines in Asia-Pacific, excluding China, are led by Indonesia with 367 projects/60,354 rooms, which accounts for 19% of the projects in the total pipeline. Next is India with 265 projects/36,469 rooms, then Japan with 251 projects/49,869 rooms. These countries are followed by Australia, at an all-time high, with 192 projects/36,350 rooms and then Vietnam with 149 projects/59,857 rooms.

Cities in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, with the largest construction pipelines are Jakarta, Indonesia, with 86 projects/15,163 rooms; Seoul, South Korea, with 68 projects/13,373 rooms; and Tokyo with 61 projects/13,210 rooms. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, follows with 50 projects/13,147 rooms, and then Bangkok with 43 projects/11,427 rooms.

The top franchise companies in Asia-Pacific, excluding China, are Marriott International with 273 projects/61,590 rooms, an all-time high; Accor with 224 projects/46,502 rooms; and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 151 projects/32,701 rooms. Hilton follows, also at record high counts, with 93 projects/20,762 rooms. Combined, these four companies account for 40% of the rooms in the total construction pipeline.

Current Issue

Hotel Business Editor-in-Chief Christina Trauthwein shares some of the highlights of the May 15th issue, including a cover story on COVID-19 and the law, the annual sources of funding report and list, and a piece on streaming content in hotels’ public spaces.